Harbingers of Change

Chapter 33

Momonga was once again sitting upon the Throne of Kings, tinkering with the Nazarick skill as the manas watched on, giving advice here and there. With the massive territorial and power expansion came the need for a more detailed power structure and nuanced titles, and he wanted to finish the new system before the public event where most of the continent's prominent people would be invited to ensure everything ran smoothly.

Not counting those who would join as vassals, many of the human kings and queens of the Western Nations would visit the Tempest Hegemony for the first time, with the most prominent ones being the Royal families of Ingrassia and Siltrosso.

Guy and Velzard planned to be among the guests as well, representing the northern continent and its interests. Dagruel had declined an invitation, stating he had no interest in such events and only sent formal congratulations, which was more than enough for them. Even Velgrynd had contacted him in secret, saying that she would attend, though in disguise, and preferred to not be mentioned by name. And of course, such a gathering could not happen without Elmesia attending, given the elves' interest in Tempest.

Demiurge and Souei were having a field day with the sudden uptick in spies of all kinds from all nations, including the Eastern Empire and the Ayeava Kingdom, in anticipation of the event. The military had also begun undergoing intense training in case anything went wrong during the meeting, especially the ones stationed in Tempest's capital city.

The time has come to officially announce the integration of various territories into the Tempest Hegemony and, to avoid wasting a perfectly good opportunity, also publicly declare Benimaru, Shuna, and Milim as his adopted children.

His rank would remain unchanged, and he would be the Supreme Overlord above all. Buku, as the one who would replace him should he need to be absent for any reason, now would be given the title of Vice Overlord. The remaining three guild members would have High Lord titles, acting as the intermediate between the regional rulers and the top two. Together, they made up the uppermost ruling body of the Tempest Hegemony.

The next echelon right below the guild members was the leader of the executive branch. And with that in mind, Albedo would have the title of Executive Overseer. Right below would come the people who were floor guardians and their equivalents, which as of now would include Shalltear, Cocytus, Aura, Mare, Demiurge, Pandora, Sebas, Aureole, Rubedo, and Ramiris. Their new rank would be High Executor, as they were the general final call for enforcing the law of Tempest if need be.

Next in rank was the area guardian equivalent, having an Executor title due to being the main person who could be contacted if things went terribly wrong across multiple regions. Notable people receiving this title would be Pestonya, Kyouhukou, Kagali, Nigredo, Benimaru, Shion, and Shuna.

Below them would come regional rulers with a Lord title, which after the announcement would be Carrion, Frey, Clayman, Drum, Kaede, Gazel, Apito, Geld, Rigurd, Souka, and the Mozu and Gozu leaders Horsee and Fin. They were mostly species' leaders, either appointed by Momonga or Nazarick's inhabitants or absorbed from this world's power structure.

Until now, the Jura territory wasn't divided by regional rulers and was all overseen by Albedo, but now to streamline the administration and governing, notable leaders were assigned territories.

Apito governed mostly the insectar-populated areas west of the capital, keeping eyes on the human kingdoms through her many, many army wasps.

Geld was responsible for the Kusha Mountains south to southwest of the capital and the territories south to it bordering Fulbrosia.

Souka was in charge of the area around Lake Shisu up to the border with Falmuth.

Horsee and Fin each controlled the territory previously held by their respective clans, now under the same overarching Tempestian flag.

Rigurd was in charge of the capital and the surrounding province.

The rest of the Lords kept their governance over their respective territories, albeit with the obligatory governance changes in administration, laws, and enforcement.

There were still questions about Milim's domain and how it would be managed, but it only had an extremely low population that rarely interacted with the outside world. Thus, it didn't require much of a governing body besides Milim's word and enforcement through the Dragon Faithful. Middray had already been told of Milim's new position and the changes that were coming, but Milim hadn't been that eager to bring him in for evaluation.

With the leaders having their hands full as is, the full integration of the region could be set for a later date. It did hold many rare metals generated from Milim's unrestricted aura from so many hundreds of years though, and Buku had to threaten Pero with the blackmail of his porn collection from Earth to keep his dollar signs in check and not industrialize the whole area too fast. After all, most of the metal would go into the military-industrial complex, which needed to be built with sustainability in mind.

These new titles alone weren't the only rankings being distributed, as there still was the military hierarchy and other administrative bodies that had to be codified. Shuna, for example, as Momonga's daughter, would be treated with greater respect than her executor rank would imply, especially considering that she also had a close relationship with Momonga's consorts who also held varying ranks across the uppermost board.

Implementing the new system was easier than ever since Manas Nazarick could change everyone's rank by a single order from Momonga within a heartbeat.

Done with the relatively easy task, he now needed to address the much bigger issue. At the beginning of the church's crusade, Tempest had approximately five million denizens, which had jumped to about fifty-two million after the Falmuth's annexation by not only adding roughly thirty-eight million humans to their population but also a rapid increase of spawned troops that was created to ensure control in the occupied territories.

Now a group of vassals would be joining the Hegemony. With it, the population count skyrocketed to another level entirely. Dwargon alone added about fifty million people, mostly dwarves and elves, with some humans.

Jistav Puppet Nation added an approximate population of one hundred million into the mix. A lot of this population were majins, dark elves, various rogue demons that weren't associated with any of their respective primordials, and demi-humans, many of whom were former slaves. Once Clayman was freed from his brainwashing, he had already implemented a lot of new policies under Buku's suggestion, freeing the majority of the slave population and helping them integrate into society as full members, and his nation's official inclusion into Nazarick would only accelerate the process.

Milim's lands housed less than one hundred thousand people and thus was a drop in the ocean compared to the rest. There wasn't much worry there, and it was mostly forest or mountainous territory.

Fulbrosia had a population of roughly four million harpies, plus another thirty million non-flying lesser castes consisting mostly of injured harpies, lycanthropes, and various demi-humans.

Eurazania was the biggest contributor to the melting pot, adding to Tempest roughly three hundred million new citizens living in the fertile plains formally ruled over by the Beast King.

In total, their most recent territorial gains added four hundred eighty-four million citizens to the Hegemony, whose total population count now exceeded half a billion in number.

The issues stemming from such rapid expansion were too many to count. The first and most pressing one would be mass migration, as many would likely seek new opportunities elsewhere. To Nazarick's estimate, the capital of Tempest alone would likely grow from its current three hundred thousand denizens to a staggering fifteen million citizens in just a few years, which meant a historically unprecedented construction spree would be required to ensure covering the basic needs for everyone.

The plus side was that a much larger population could escalate the building of their military-industrial complex and support an increase in the overall standing forces. With Momonga's permission, Nazarick had already started the process of including every citizen into Nazarick's skill, but the process wasn't as fast as one would hope for, especially when there were hordes of unnamed monsters. Naming was slow and painful as the Manas chugged along, handing out generated names using the Tomb's immense batteries that had only grown further with all the evolutions pre-Walpurgis, and borrowing Omniscience from Momonga to reach across the land.

The most optimistic estimates would be the totality of the new population included in Nazarick in the next two years. The plus side was that with each new soul added, the skill's total power grew, creating a positive feedback cycle. Even if Milim was still the largest contributor by far, even the smallest additions counted if used properly, and they had hundreds of millions of raindrops to add to Nazarick's pool.

If the best-case scenario came to pass and no new large-scale wars broke out in the near future, Momonga would still have his hands full with domestic issues. That he knew for sure.

<X>

Housing all the foreign dignitaries wasn't an easy task, even with another two massive blocks added to the Tempestian Royal Castle. But somehow the task was achieved, and the big day had finally come.

A new, much larger throne room had been constructed by Geld and his closest assistants personally, and the first arriving guests could see five thrones instead of the expected four, which turned into a flood of rumors and speculations as more and more individuals arrived during the morning.

Since Guy and Velzard among other powerful dignitaries had chosen to avoid being too flashy in respect to Momonga accommodating weak humans, the crowd was eagerly sampling the delicacies provided, and discussing what would be announced today. Everyone was nervous, stressed, excited, or some combination of the three about what was to come.

"You know, I think Momonga has popped up in this world just to spite me. Even his food is better," Guy commented as he drank a shot of aged rum that, despite the high alcohol content, was sweet and soothing.

"I'm sure you can think of a few things you have better than him," Velzard purred as she dragged her hand over his biceps, her other hand snagging a bulldeer sandwich. "But I must admit, the food is fresh and excellent for a nation primarily run by mortals. Maybe we should send some of your maids here to be tutored."

"That's an idea. Maybe when things die down, I could get Rain and Mizeri to be trained by whoever made all this," Guy agreed, picking up a piece of Spear Toro made to look like a flower and tossing it in his mouth.

'How the hell do they make it taste like that? I have eaten every possible recipe made out of this fish over the years. Have they brought some otherworldly spices with them?' Guy's frustration only grew. Whoever was the mastermind behind this cuisine surely was working with ingredients not available to the rest of the world, and with Tempest already confirmed to have otherworldly ingredients, he wanted in on the goods. Otherworlders, for all their arrogance, did bring useful things occasionally to his realm.

On the other end of the room, a small girl was watching the guests like a hawk with an older man standing by her side, both dressed in finer clothes than most of the attendees.

"I didn't even need to use Greed to convince them to come," She whispered as she took small sips from a glass of champagne, its alcohol content reduced to the minimum. Not that her otherworlder body would suffer any consequences if she did consume alcohol, but the reason for her choice of drink was the appearances she had to uphold.

"The world is changing. They will sell their very principles for a slice of the new pie." Granbell spat, politely refusing a glass of his own from a nearby waitress.

The human leaders who, just a few months ago were in complete meltdown about the monster who killed one hundred thousand warriors with ease, were now flocking to meet him in his very court. It was disgusting for him, for his kind to betray what benefited them the most in the long run, but he bore it for the time being.

The most frustrating part was that despite having Chronoa as a weapon, she alone likely wasn't enough and more was needed for their move to be made. It would take years to build up enough forces for just one precise strike on whose success the entire future of humanity would hang by a thread.

"Looks like it's about to start, I sense the change in magicule frequency," Mariabell casually remarked, motioning for a refill.

Over the past few years, she had grown quite skilled in utilizing her skill to its fullest, maybe even beyond its supposed limits. The frustrating part was that no matter the effort, this skill alone would never let her be on the top and she would need to find a way to get to the top.

If she had been born as a non-human, Mariabell knew that with her intellect she would've been a Demon Lord at this point and make the Demon Lord council dance to her tune. At least, it would be the case if Momonga and his ilk weren't present. He was a monster among monsters with intellect to match. His every move was calculated as if he could predict the future, and his moves alone were powered by great personal and national might.

If not for her infinite greed and desire to be on the top, she would've already bent her knee to this monster and tried to obtain a favorable position in his court. But such meager dreams were for the weak-minded. Some way, somehow, she would find a way to outsmart him, and she would rise to the top.

As the leaders of Tempest appeared one by one on their respective thrones the atmosphere tensed up. And then came the first wave of surprises: Milim Nava, the Destroyer, took the fifth seat, her pink hair and short stature recognizable to anyone who had read half a book on mythologies.

To her, this turn of events was all but predictable, but the nearby weak-minded human leaders nearly fainted at the mere revelation. Milim, the second most feared Demon Lord after Guy Crimson, had openly joined Tempest, giving it her protection and might.

But that was only the beginning of the surprises. What came next took even her by surprise. Four figures marched into the throne room and through the parted crowd approached the thrones. First was Demon Lord Frey, the Harpy Queen, second was Demon Lord Carrion, the Beast King, third was Demon Lord Clayman, the Ruler of Jistav, and last was Gazel Dwargo, the King of the Armed Nation of Dwargon.

To see them in the same room was a sight many would have thought impossible, but that was only the beginning of it.

One by one, they kneeled before the five rulers, shocking everyone.

"I give my lands to you, Supreme Overlord, and pledge my servitude." Demon Lord Frey was the first to announce.

"My lands and my people are yours, Supreme Overlord," Demon Lord Carrion announced next.

"I pledge myself to The Supreme Overlord. From this day on, Jistav belongs to you." Clayman was next to speak.

"I pledge my life to you, Supreme Overlord. Dwargon joins Tempest under your wise rule." Gazel spoke last.

'Nearly half of the continent now belongs to Tempest! Just how long has he controlled all of them? And if we count Milim's lands… he doesn't care if he gets humanity under his thumb or not, his empire is already larger than all of the Western Nations combined. The political power alone… Dammit. No, no, I can turn this around. I just got access to territories I haven't before. UTC will reap profits that will dwarf anything seen before. I will build a golden throne for this monster and then push him off it when he grows complacent!'

While most of those present stared in shock, she was one of the rare few breaking into a wide smile. It was her petite hands that made the first clap, ringing out across the hall.

{ What are you doing? } Granbell demanded.

{ Clap. Play along. We should look happy about this development, given our position within Tempest. It would be suspicious if we weren't. }

{ He has an army larger than the human population in the Western Nations now! He doesn't need you anymore! } Granbell retorted.

{ No, he needs me more than ever. He needs money to flow through his immense lands, no nation can run without currency supporting it. And I will make the money flow. I will outshine that arrogant bird to such a degree that he will have no choice but to keep me close! } Mariabell nearly broke into laughter.

Granbell let out a tired sigh and joined the clapping as more and more people joined in, likely out of fear. No one would want to be caught not cheering for this turn of events from the sheer amount of power in the room alone, let alone the unprecedented political clout now held by Tempest.

The Overlord raised his hand as a golden staff made to look like seven snakes twisting around a pole appeared in his hand. He tapped the magnificent weapon and a map of the main continent appeared on the expansive wall behind the thrones. The Tempest Hegemony was colored in bright blue color, taking up forty percent of the landmass of the whole continent.

"I accept your pledge. From this day forward, you and your people are citizens of the Tempest Hegemony. None will be discriminated against. No longer will the old fears and prejudices of the old era sow death and violence amidst us all. A new era has begun. A more peaceful era, where everyone has their place no matter the race, has begun. And from these thrones, we, the five members of Ainz Ooal Gown, will watch over you." he paused.

"From the rest, Kings, Queens, Leaders, I ask for open and fruitful cooperation between us. Let us put our old hatreds and grudges aside and build a better world together! Let us work together to bring prosperity and happiness to all our subjects." Momonga spoke like a man of peace as his dreadful presence grew slowly, suffocating the unprepared humans.

Another wave of thunderous applause. The people, as if fearing to be marked for death, clapped like their sanity was slipping away, which for some could've been accurate.

"But that is not all I wished to reveal today. Many might not believe, but I am a man of family, and for too long I have let my children hide in my shadow. As many of you have met my consorts, now you will have the chance to meet my sons and daughters," Momonga stood up, dismissing his staff.

A creature in a yellow military uniform with a coat teleported right to Momonga's right side, his head having only three dark holes for eyes and mouth. With sharp movement, he saluted.

"First Prince Pandora's Actor."

'Hmm, that must be the head of research. I wonder If I will have a chance to get closer to him.' Mariabell already began to plan pathways to worm her way into the family, pushing Greed to probe his soul.

Right next to him appeared a horned man with red hair dressed in red with a fiery aura complimenting his look.

"Second Prince Benimaru."

'For a monster, he is far too good-looking. These fools will have their panties wet at his sight alone.' She glanced seeing multiple women flush red at the sight of the handsome prince, who was the polar opposite of his intimidating father. 'Maybe there is an opening to exploit; he looks young, likely inexperienced with conniving women with his kind having proper courting traditions.'

She knew about Benimaru as the rumors of Momonga's son had been floating around since Blumund joined Tempest, but the confirmation was finally there.

Then Milim stood up and took Momonga's side to his left.

"First Princess Milim."

'That can't be possible. She is millennia old! I will try to get details later. Momonga couldn't have been hidden all this time only now to emerge.' She simply denied that the undead could be the birth father of the Destroyer, her ancestor agreeing with her sentiments.

"Second Princess Shuna," Momonga announced as a pink-haired girl with a pair of short horns appeared next to Milim.

While Milim exuded brash confidence, this girl gazed downwards with a shy smile on her face. For someone with her information network, it came as no surprise, but for most, it was a surprise that Momonga had a daughter at the right age for marriage. Many minds grew ambitious, hoping to tie her with them, just as Mariabell had anticipated.

'There it goes. Let the schemes begin, they have found their target to marry.' Mariabell could read the room like an open book. Save for the horns on her forehead, the monster girl appeared human and to her best guess had just reached marriageable age, and she was a beauty in her own right.

There was a path both for men and women to marry into the Supreme Overlord's family and suitors likely would be dime-a-dozen. The competition had begun.

The Overlord had finally fully come into public and fully shown his domain. Now it was the time for her to reap what her greatest opponent had sown.

Editing by aidan_lo.

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Sluethen, clagan, Malguis, KieraKieraARTS, Cay, CakeEight, NuggetLover, Working_Stiff and Stac.

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